Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Greg Oden's latest injury: Everyone take a deep breath and calm down

When I first heard Oden was out due to injury once again, I wasn't going to touch on it. It was supposed to be a minor injury and honestly I have grown pretty tired of writing on the subject of Oden Owchies.

Then two things happened: Oden has been out longer than was initially thought and I have had to listen to morons call him Sam Bowie again. Both of these things are annoying.

To address the former, read Jason Quick's (secret cousin that won't acknowledge us, by the way) article, or be lazy and just read these excerpts:

"I just thought I would get some ice and get it over with," Oden said Tuesday. "It turned out to be bigger."

Or longer, to be more precise. Initially, Oden thought he would be back for the Blazers' first game after the All-Star Break. Now, there's no guarantee he will play again in February.

[Cut.]

Oden, meanwhile, offered a glimmer of hope on Tuesday.

"It's getting better, getting better," Oden said. "It's a lot better than a couple of days ago. But right now, I'm taking my time and gradually doing a little bit more."

The injury is not on the knee that was surgically repaired in September of 2007.

So while Oden is out longer than expected, there are reasons not to drag out those tired Bowie references (although I'm now convinced there is a certain percentage of fans that love to use these, and will do so every time Oden so much as sneezes). First, it is not on his surgically repaired knee. Second, it is a pretty minor deal and Greg is just waiting until all the pain is gone to hit the court again. That is the kind of level-headed long-term approach that is best for the team. (Third, um, Sam Bowie played 76 games in his rookie season. Moving on...)

Oden has shown he can produce. We have gone over what he does when he avoids foul trouble, something he will learn to do consistently. He also leads all rookies in double-doubles (16), in spite of playing in just 46 games. Stop the nonsense.